| Indications | Contraindications |
|---|
| Acute injury or inflammation | Anesthetic skin | | Acute or chronic pain | Cold allergy/cold-induced urticaria | | Acute or chronic muscle spasm | Cold-induced myocardial ischemia (or other unstable heart or lung disease) | | Neuralgia | Diabetes mellitus (when complicated by vascular disease or sensory loss) | | Postsurgical pain and edema | Peripheral vascular disease | | Use prior to rehabilitation exercises | Raynaud's phenomenon | | Small, superficial, first-degree burns | Systemic lupus erythematosus | | Spasticity accompanying central nervous system disorders | Uncovered open wounds |
|
SOURCE: Adapted from Starkey, C: Therapeutic Modalities, ed 3., F. A. Davis Co., Philadelphia, 2004.